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I received a message the other day that read: “A friend of mine is posting all these YouTube’s about these theories of the earth events, mass bird deaths, etc. Any opinions?”
Attached was youtube video: (I get to “Dr. Nick Begich” below…the charlatan.)

So I replied:

”

HAARP is a research program: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/

First let me say, that there is no evidence in the world that will prove a conspiracy theorist’s ideas wrong to them. Everything that leans even remotely toward their delusion is great data, and anything against is just a part of the conspiracy. It’s bullshit. As far as the mass deaths (birds, or whale strandings, or droughts, …): they apparently happen more often than we pay attention to, but it’s only when you combine it with some nutcase’s ranting that they look mysterious and evil, or as happened at the beginning of the year, when some coincide with others. And of course with a global and immediate media update, it’s easy to put it out there and then say “scientists are baffled” because an immediate explanation isn’t immediately forthcoming: science takes time to find the answer, where-as innuendo and assertion takes but a second (or rather: a lie can fly around the world while the truth is still getting its boots on)

Earthquakes happen ALL THE TIME and with people nearly everywhere on earth, now, it’s going to happen more in populated areas. The fact is, in spite of the huge advances in science, we still don’t know where or when an earthquake will happen, or why one part of a fault slips and another doesn’t. We don’t know, but that does not mean you get to say that X caused that. It is not an either-or argument.

I cannot absolutely say HAARP isn’t having an effect on the earth/ atmosphere/ what have you, but there is absolutely no evidence that it can do what the conspiracy theorists say it is doing. If they could show an cause-effect relationship, then maybe there would be a reason to consider their position: they don’t have that data, and they are merely making assertions. Just because they claim some unnamed “scientist” has questions isn’t enough (as is invoking quantum mechanics or the name of Nikola Tesla: proof is needed).

Also, you will find that the people they quote really don’t have anything to do with the technology they are railing against; for example, an electrical engineer who spent 4 years “building nuclear weapons”: how does this translate AT ALL into knowledge of how HAARP works? Or what he knows about the scientific theories we are taught that are “falling apart”? Their ‘experts’ are not experts in the field they are criticizing: it’s an appeal to authority. I will grant that the great majority of scientists and engineers have knowledge outside their field of work (I know I do), but we need to know why THEIR experts are ‘experts’ on THIS, not merely that they are a Doctor or an Engineer (in an unrelated field).

So don’t worry 🙂 but if you DO, there’s probably nothing we can do about it, anyway. 😉

I am, however, going to delve more deeply into this, as it’s interesting.

I suppose I should qualify my first statement about conspiracy theorists: it is a very broad statement, and I am sure there are some people in the community who are willing to consider the data, but like anti-vaxers, homeopaths, pseudo-science pushers, and creationists, the great majority won’t follow the evidence.”

To which my friend responded:

“Thanks for all the feedback and taking the time to respond. In light of your last statement I feel compelled to say that I just have a gut feeling that things are happening more frequently and in some interrelated way. Ah, intuition. LOL! :-)”

And respondeded…ed:

“You’re welcome! 🙂
Keep in mind, the entire world is a giant system and it is intuitive that a large event can trigger other events; it is hypothesized that the Haiti and Japanese quakes may push other faults to activity, as well as volcanic activity (there is evidence that this happened in California after the Chilean quake last month). However, this does NOT mean that they are caused by anything other than natural forces: to blame it on HAARP or NASA or a government or Dr. Evil is just plain foolish.

Natural disasters happen, and they probably happen more frequently than we know or have witnessed: we’ve only been keeping accurate records for maybe 200 years at best, which is nothing considering the age of civilization, or the age of the earth. In 1812 there was a massive earthquake in Mississippi that reversed the flow of the Mississippi River, Krakatoa blew up in 1883, Tunguska was hit by something in 1908, and the Northeastern seaboard was hit by “the perfect storm” in 1991 (as well as the recent hurricanes in the lower states). These are huge events just within living memory, and we’ve been extremely lucky recently. Just look up “earthquakes” on wikipedia to see how many happen that are Magnitude 7 or higher, or look at the National Geophysical Society’s list (below).

Shit happens but there is no reason to confer any special agent or reason on the great majority of it. Civilization didn’t end in 2000 or 2001 and the world isn’t going to end on March 21, nor in 2012. Don’t let the fear mongers try and scare you into buying into their paranoia, because there is enough going on without dealing with that. 🙂 That being said: being prepared isn’t a bad idea, because, well: shit happens, dunnit? 😮
Cheers!

Aaaaand, btw, I finally watched the first part of the youtube video. In my opinion, “Dr.” Nick Begich has no credibility : he is into pseudo-science, the New World Order, mind control, (s)CAM treatment, what have you. His doctorate is from “The Open International University of Complimentary Medicines in Sri Lanka” which is not a recognized university or teaching organization (according to google answers). Meh to fake degrees and the people who use them to bestow an air of officialdom.”